Cannes Market - Do I YOU need a screening?

mr-modern-life

mr-modern-life

After 3 years at Cannes I thought I'd share some market knowlegde with you guys. I often get asked about screening a film at Cannes.

Here, for what it's worth, is my take on it all:

We paid £350 for a Cannes Market screening. The sound was rubbish, half the people in the screening weren't buyers and we pciked up NOTHING from the investment. On top we spent over £300 in marketing materials and the £150 odd that it costs for your market badge.

For my money don't bother. Screenings are there to help ligitify a film. To prove its real and finished. Your better off spending that money on nice media packs with a shiney DVD and juts handing them out to sales agents. On low budget indie films you'll find that most decisions are made AFTER Cannes.

So go, hand out the info, take a card and follow it up. That's how we, in the end, sold Left For Dead...

Phil Hobden
-- Producer --
 
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Its a Hobby until you are discovered and/or make money at it. Dont take it so personally. If you cant fork out 350 pounds (700 bucks USD?), without expecting the world in return. then dont invest.

I always thought it (Cannes) was just to help find Student or Hobbyist film makers with talent. Nows all these big name Movie Stars are jumping into the scene.
 
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King Goldfish -

far from it. The Cannes market is the place to take and sell any indie film. If you've never been or expereinced it it's insanity... but so many people have had product picked up, stuck deals and been found at Cannes. It's one of the few places you get everyone at every level in one place at one time.

My point with the screening is that it's not the right investment. That money can be better spent to better sucsess!

Phil Hobden
 
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Actually, these posts give me the impression that I should go there. If you really can do the Cannes market for that little, it would seem crazy not to.

Perhaps I am not the average "indie", but if you can market a feature for about $1000 us at Cannes...? Of course, if you're feature is rubbish, that's a whole other kettle of fish. :)

NOT SAYING ANYONE'S FEATURE IS RUBBISH- just pointing out that if you think you've made a marketable product and have researched your audience/market enough to put together a good sales piece to hand out at the screening, it seems a reasonable and surprisingly small investment.

Plus, on this side of the pond, screening at Cannes has a cache' that perhaps it doesn't in Europe.

Am I wrong?
 
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Cannes is a must. If you have a film there are few better places to take it. My point was don't waste money on screenings unless you really want to. Screenings tend to be full of people who aren't buyers and even when buyers do attend they tend to leave after 5 mins any way (most buyers have 20 + films to see each day so...).

Register for the market place (around £150 UKP) and you get access to all the databases which means you have almost every email address of every key player you need and email them, set up meeting , pitch etc. That's the way to do Cannes!!!!

Phil Hobden
-- Modern Life? --
"When there's no more room in hell... Uwe Boll will make more movies"
 
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